Highs and Lows 9-26

So here we are again. Time for Highs and Lows. Pretty simple. Share the highs and lows of your week.

<center><a href="http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Jenfur427/LinkParty-2.png" /></a></center>

Lows

• Took Arielle to her orthodontist consult. Poor thing has such jacked up teeth. She needs one baby tooth pulled, the adult tooth came in way behind it and won't push it out. He said that she has moderate crowding and a misaligned bite. So he said in a year, she'll need partial braces and an expander for 18 or so months. Then a few years after that, she'll most likely need full braces. Poor thing. I wore braces for almost 5 years, I hate that she's going to have to go through the same stuff.

• Jasmin's birthday party is coming up, so I asked her how many girls are in her class. She told me 10, so I sent ten invites to her school with a note to the teacher, asking her if she would put them in the girls binders. She wrote me back, and said that unless I send an invite for all 25 kids, that she can't hand them out since it's "excluding" some kids. I guess I get it, but we don't do co-ed parties, and I can't imagine most parents being able to financially or space wise, invite 25 kids. Which means 25 kids, plus at least one parent and probably a sibling? I mean, what the crap, it's not like I asked her to hand them out in front of the boys. So I've sent out 6 invites, and let's hope that they show up, or it's going to be a bummer of a party for her. I mean, not everyone gets invited to everything, it's part of life. I'm just irritated. Her school friends are her friends, and I'm not friends with their moms and have no way to contact them.

• I've decided to rehome my parrot, which breaks my heart. But with 3 kids, I'm just pulled in too many directions to be able to give him the attention he wants. He wants to sit on me and hang out with me, which is fine and totally expected, but with Ava usually on me or right around me, it's not an option. I just think he'd be happier in a home without small children. And Jake and I have talked about a 4th child, so it's not just a matter of waiting for Ava to grow up. I'm bummed.

Highs

• I was asked to stand in as Arielle's table leader for her Awana class, since her usual table leader would be out. It was refreshing to see her so excited about God. I had to listen to each girl recite her verses, and helped out with their game. I won't be volunteering every time (Sunday night is our date night and when we have one on one time with Ava) but I wouldn't mind doing it every so often

• I won the giveaway at Infarrantly Creative for the Great Ideas contest! I won a Cuisinart ICE-21R Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker. Woot! I'm super excited to try it out.

• I've been doing really good with my work outs. Lost 2 lbs and an inch on my waist. Hubby and I took Ava up to the park on Saturday morning, so we jogged/walked 1.2 miles. Then I did 10 pushups, which I hate. And hubby told me to do 10 more. And then 10 more a few minutes later. I ended up doing a total of 75 pushups in about 15 minutes, all different kinds of push ups. Not bad for a girl who couldn't do ten pushups 3 weeks ago. 

• Had such a great week with hubby. Great quality time, went to Five Guys which I LOVE, ordered pizza and watched the UFC fights (okay, that doesn't sound great for my diet, but what can you do).  

• I'm finally finding time and energy (and ideas) to craft, which is awesome. Started on a Halloween wreath today, but I'm short one item. Grrrrrr. 

I think that's it. 

Cereal bar prize pack winner!

The cereal bar giveaway has ended! There were 36 entries and Random picked lucky number...

So that makes the winner...

Congrats Donna! I loved the Lucky Charms bars, I hope your daughter does too!

Christmas is coming! Who wouldn't love a watch in their stocking?

I'm sure that you've noticed that Hobby Lobby has had their Christmas stuff out for a couple of months now. And while I immediately thought it was way too early to think about Christmas decorating, it's never too early to think about Christmas present shopping. 

I know you've heard me talk about one of my fabulous sponsors, Meg from Meggie's Love. She's famous for her watches. All priced around $20, it's an inexpensive gift that looks expensive. You all know the watch I own, right? She's has those in stock (if you want to own one like mine, which I know you do), but she's also added some new styles! 

 1. Brown suede with tortoise face  2.  Red suede with multicolor face  

3. Red suede with square face  4. Black suede with lizard skin watch

And although it doesn't feel like it, living here in Texas, it will be getting cold soon. Who says you don't have to be in style, just because it's cold? 

1. Crochet scarf with wooden buttons  2. Crochet neck warmer with wooden buttons  3. Crochet neck warmer with colorful buttons  4. Crochet newsgirl hat with brim  5. Crochet bow earwarmers

I totally want number 3 if anyone is wondering. :)

She also had other goodies in her shop. Doggy sweaters, home decor, jewelry, vintage finds. If you like her facebook page, you can stay up to date with newly listed items (like her new wood faced watches, so pretty!) and coupon codes.  


Happy shopping!
 

Free Jello Brain Mold, just pay $2.95 shipping!

You know I totally had to order this. I jumped on the last offer they had for the 4th of July tray. It was super great quality, and quick shipping. 

Have you seen their Halloween theme jello mold? It's this FREE Jello Brain mold! Just pay $2.95 shipping!
It's under the "food" category, around page 3.  Use zip 12345. 

 

 

 Thanks to Bargain Hound for the info!

Highs and Lows 9-19

So here we are again. Time for Highs and Lows. Pretty simple. Share the highs and lows of your week.

<center><a href="http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Jenfur427/LinkParty-2.png" /></a></center>


Lows

• Decided I'd be a good wife and clean and organize all of my make up that's been sitting on the counter since, I dunno, forever. Went to Walmart, bought some little containers, organized all of my make up. But as I was getting out all of my nail polish, I dropped one. And yes, you can guess what happened next. Yes, a completely full, dark purplish black nail polish shattered, spraying nail polish all over the tiles and cabinets. Did I mention that I was wearing brand new nice jeans? And that I only had 1/4 left in my nail polish remover bottle? Took me FOREVER to clean it up, and I'm pretty sure I lost a few hundred brain cells from all of those fumes. 

Highs

• Last week I had a couple of sales in my sadly neglected Etsy shop, which motivated me to start making stuff again. It's been nice having that motivation, I've gotten really lazy with it. 

• I didn't realize my middle daughter's birthday was coming up so soon, it's on October 8th. She asked for a skating party, only because she wants to do everything exactly like her older sister, and older sister had a skating party. But I played up the idea of a house party, with a pinata, sack races, etc, so she's really pumped. We're doing a monster theme, so I've been pinning different ideas. 

• I'm still doing my kettlebell fitness challenge, and running in the evenings with hubby. I've lost 2 lbs, and an inch off of my waist (and gained an inch in my thighs). I'm excited. I bought some new running shoes, and some new shorts (in a size smaller!).

• Ava had her post surgery check up, and the surgeon said she was perfect! There is a 5% chance that she'll have another obstruction in the future, but I'll take 95% that she won't.

• Totally silly high. Hubby and I play Alice: Madness Returns. It's only a one player game, but we take turns. He's better at the fighting parts. But he was stuck on one bad guy, and guess who was able to beat it! Me! Yes me, the one who gets killed constantly, beat the bad guy on my 3rd try. What what!

• I won some pretty cool lots on etsy for jewelry destash. I'm excited to get my hands on it and see what I can make. 

So that's all I can think of, I think it was a good week.

Straight Talk? Tell me more.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm one of those people who has her phone glued to her hip at all times. I feel naked without it. Even so, I don't want to spend a ton of money on it. I'm greedy, I want a lot of options, without having to put out a bunch of money. Money saved, means money that can go towards other things. And who doesn't want that?

For the longest time, I had no idea what our cell phone bill was. Ours is combined with our internet and cable, so I just see the total. But when I actually looked at my bill, I was surprised. There has to be a better way to do this.

Now there is, and it's called Straight Talk. There are no contracts. No credit checks. No crazy surprise bills at the end of the month. Plus, there is great nationwide coverage. Did I mention that Straight Talk only uses trusted phone manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Samsung?

The montly plan is amazing. There is an “All You Need Plan” with 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 MB of web data. That even covers those heavy cell phone users.

You want to know the price, right? Unlimited Monthly service is only $45, and includes calls, text, picture messaging, and web. If you do the math, it means that the whole year is under $500. Heck, we were spending that in 3 months with our old cell phone contract. Plus, Straight Talk is free from activation, reactivation, or termination fees. I know you hate those as much as I do.

You know those phones I talked about? Straight Talk has reconditioned phones are available from $10.00 with camera, mp3 player, mobile web access, and blue-tooth capability. They also have smart phones, touch screen phones, and app capable phones with features like voice navigation, camera, video recorder, music player, instant messaging, and Bluetooth®.

Need to hear some testimonials?

If you want to know more, check out Hook, line and sinker

You can also check out Android on Straight Talk and Call a friend

WINNER of the $15 credit to You Enhanced!

Another fabulous giveaway has ended! A huge thanks to Nik for offering up a credit to her adorable etsy shop! She also has a blog, I love looking on there for the fashion ideas she posts. Lady has style! 

Without further adieu, the winner according to Random. org...

 And that means the winner is.... drum roll please! 

who said she had her eye on the peacock pearl necklace!

Congrats! I'm off to send you an email! Thank you to all who entered! Be on the lookout for a great giveaway when I hit 750 followers!

Cereal treats + Back to School prize pack giveaway!

 I don't know about you, but when my kids get home from school at 3:15, the first thing I hear is "Mom! We're hungry, what's for snack?" Some days we do fruit, some days it's yogurt or pretzels. I'm always looking for something new so they can have some variety. So when General Mills offered to let me try out their new cereal bars, I gladly said yes. 

 I got to try out the Lucky Charms and the Golden Grahams. My girls liked both versions, but I was a huge fan of the Lucky Charms kind. 

• Flavor varieties include the ever popular Golden Grahams® (130 calories) and new Lucky Charms® Treats (100 calories), loaded with popular favorites like chocolate and marshmallows.
• Cereal Treats Bars contain less than 140 calories per bar and are made with wholesome cereal, making them a snack option that you can feel good about giving your kids.
• TWO Box Tops for Education seals on each box of Cereal Treat Bars, making earning cash for your school doubly cool! 

These flavor-packed Cereal Treats Bars are sure to meet the ‘cool factor’ that kids demand. Check out Cereal Treats Bars online for great information and coupons for new products. Also, be sure to visit the Betty Crocker Facebook page and get involved in the conversation.

Want to try them out for yourself? Want some extra goodies? Keep reading!

 
 Here's whats up for grabs!

• One box of Lucky Charms^® Cereal Treats Bars
• One box of Golden Grahams^® Cereal Treats Bars
• Lunch bag
• Locker whiteboard
• Colored pencil set

 Wanna enter? 


Required entry: (must be a follower on my blog). Tell me which flavor you're more excited to try!


Extra entries:


Like me on FB (+1)


Blog/FB/tweet this, leave me a link (+1 for each)


This giveaway ends next Tuesday night!


"Disclosure: Cereal Treats Bars, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark."

Highs and Lows 9-11 edition

So here we are again. Time for Highs and Lows. Pretty simple. Share the highs and lows of your week.

<center><a href="http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Jenfur427/LinkParty-2.png" /></a></center>

Lows

• the nail on my right middle finger decided to split way down past the quick. On both sides. So basically it's just being held on by the middle part, and apparently I didn't realize how often I catch it on stuff, cause I keep doing it, and it keeps splitting deeper and deeper towards the middle. Freaking hurts. I have some acrylic nail stuff on it, but I don't have any hope. Eek. All of my other nails are longer, I'm going to have a short stumpy nail, booooo. Probably my fault since I don't put nail strengthener on it, but it's so hard with a baby. Never know when she's going to wake up, so it's hard to paint my nails during the day. I did splurge and buy some $8 Sally Hansen Miracle Cure strengthener. I know it seems silly to whine about my nail, but imagine splitting your nail about a quarter inch past the quick. Painful.

Highs

Awana started back up for the older girls, which means that hubby and I (and Ava) have date nights on Sunday nights. We went to a new (to me) restaurant. It was whatever, but it was fun to spend time with my husband.

• Completed week one of the kettlebell fitness challenge. One week down, 7 to go. I've lost one lb, woo-hoo! Erin started a (secret) FB page where all of the participants can post weekly pics, and it's a great feeling of support. I won't post my pics now, but be prepared to see pics in 7 weeks of my epic hotness.

• Took my mom to Olive Garden on Friday (sorry Lesley, I know you hate that place). Korean thanksgiving is on Monday, and she always feels a little sad that her whole family is getting together in Korea and she can't be there. So I always take her out to lunch for our own Thanksgiving celebration.

• Had sushi with one of my girlfriends on Tuesday. It's always nice to have girl time. 

• I woke up on Wednesday to find a couple of sales from my sadly neglected Etsy shop. It was nice to see some money in my account, and gave me the motivation to start listing stuff again. I like making the stuff, I hate taking pics and listing it. 

I think that's it? It was a pretty low key week, which isn't a bad thing.

Ava's First Birthday, a recap

We celebrated Ava's first birthday party last weekend, a celebration that was long over due. I'd been planning her party for a couple of months, pinning things on Pinterest, making the decorations, etc. Her hospital stay and emergency surgery pushed everything back two weeks, but it worked out okay in the end. 

I decided to go with a circus/carnival theme, with the colors red, turquoise and yellow. 


Luckily, I had help with the food. Julie, from It's Sew Stinkin' Cute, took Friday off of work and came over bright and early to help. We had fun making all of the goodies. Chocolate covered pretzels, dipped marshmallows, layered jello, shortbread cookies from scratch. It was a smorgasbord of sugary goodness. I also made crackers and star shaped cheese, and star shaped pastry puffs on sausages, but those aren't as colorful and fancy. I love how we stuck with the color theme. I'll have to do a tutorial on the pretzels soon, they were super easy (or at least, they looked easy, since Julie did those), and I've heard of places selling them for $1 a piece. We made 30 of them for under $7.

I made three centerpieces that were super easy to make. I went onto Google, typed in (animal name) clip art, found a shape I liked, and printed it out. I then cut it out, traced it onto cardstock, and cut that out. The saddle and the base were found on the Silhouette store, which cost me 99 cents (under their circus elephant cut out), I just resized it to each animal. Once it was assembled, I backed it all with black cardstock. The stars I got for 20 cents a piece (4th of July decorations at Hobby Lobby) and the blue star weight I found at Party City for a dollar. So each centerpiece cost me about $2 a piece. 

I was really impressed with the smash cake. I got it from a local lady named Elizabeth who runs Poppy Locks. I sent her some pics of cakes that I liked, and she took those ideas and created this masterpiece. I loved it. Did I mention that the inside was marbled with different colors? How awesome is that? The simple pennant across the top was made at the last minute. I just cut out triangles out of left over invites, glued them on a string, and glued the ends to straws. The wall banner was simple to make. I printed out letters in a circus font, cut them out, cut out carstock in a triangle shape, punched out circles, and glued it all together. The party favors were drink tumblers that I bought at Party City for $1 a piece. We didn't have an age group that we stuck to when we invited kids. All of our friends kids were welcome, so I needed a favor that was good for a one year old, up to a ten year old. 

We also did a photo booth. Luckily, my husband is a graphic designer and designed the background based on a few examples I sent to him. Julie (thank you!) play paparazzi with her awesome camera. It really took the stress off of me, being able to just enjoy the party and not stress about taking pics. I made the props out of cardstock and kebab skewers. I just went to google, typed in the different shapes I wanted, found a pic that I liked, printed out the pic in the size I wanted, and cut it out and used it as a stencil on the cardstock. The fake suckers were purchased at Party City for 50 cents a piece, and the clown noses were $2.

Did you see Ava's dress? My mom and I made her a ringmaster dress! I bought the pattern when it was on sale at Hancock Fabrics for $1. The fabric cost me about $4 at Hobby Lobby. I already had the gold buttons and the gold trim, so her dress cost me about $5. For her smash cake, I found a shirt on clearance at Kohls for $2 (and I had a 30% off coupon). It said "Cutest Birthday Girl Ever". I knew that she would get messy, and I didn't want to worry about staining anything. 

Thank you for letting me share! Hopefully you enjoyed our birthday party on a budget as much as we did!

And one final recap?

Let's party...

$15 credit giveaway to You, Enhanced? Yes please!

***This giveaway has ended!****

I've been a bad blogger lately. Between my youngest's medical issues, and her first birthday party, I've been too tired/lazy/uninspired to create anything worth posting. To make it up to you, I have something awesome for you today. One of my sweet sponsors, Nik, is offering up a $15 credit to her Etsy shop!






In her shop, you'll find super cute, adorable, affordable jewelry. I own the POW necklace, and it's one of my favorite pieces! I always get a ton of compliments on it when I wear it. 

So you're asking yourself "Wow, what are some of Jen's favorite pieces in that shop?" Well, let me show ya!

I love how the jewelry is simple, adding just a touch of fun to your outfit without stealing the whole show! I'm not usually a fan of gold jewelry, but I would totally rock that bunny. 

So, what, you want to enter and get your hands on something of your own? Here's how!


Required entry: Tell me you're a follower (cause you have to be to win. All the cool people follow me, I'm just sayin') and if you are more of a bracelet or necklace wearer.

Want extra entries? Do ya? Do ya? 

• Go to You Enhanced and tell me what you'd spend your credit on. (+1 entry)

• Heart her shop on etsy (+1 entry)

• "like" me on FB (or tell me that you already do), there's a button on the right side of my blog (+1)

• Blog/tweet/facebook this giveaway, leave me a link (+1 entry each)

• Buy anything from her shop and let me know that you did (+10 entries)

There ya go! Super simple ways to enter! This giveaway will end next Friday night!

Highs and Lows, holy cow it's September

So here we are again. Time for Highs and Lows. Pretty simple. Share the highs and lows of your week.

<center><a href="http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Jenfur427/LinkParty-2.png" /></a></center>



Lows

• Ugh, I cannot sleep for crap lately. There was the sleep deprivation from Ava's stay in the hospital. Then I was up sick one night (no, not pregnant) and then a couple of nights I drank iced tea too late at night, so I had to keep getting up to pee (no, still not pregnant). Then I wasn't sleeping well, so when hubby's alarm would alarm at 5:30, it would wake me up (when I can always sleep thru it). So waking up so early makes me tired at like 7:30 or 8pm. I force myself to stay up until 9, but I'm still waking up at 5:45 most mornings. Ultimate suckage.

• I had hubby take my "Before" pics and uploadeded to the FB page for the Kettlebell fitness challenge. I was brave and did my pics in boyshorts and a sports bra. I figure I can't really appreciate the "after" pics in 8 weeks if I'm all covered up in a tank top and pants. But damn, seeing the before pic was pretty depressing. I'm not going to make excuses, like I just got finished with my time of the month. Or Ava's party was Saturday and I OD'ed on sweets. Or my father in law is in town and we've eaten out for every meal. So I think my "before" pic isn't entirely accurate, but I was pretty upset. But a picture doesn't lie, right? Oh well, prepare for epic amounts of hotness in 8 weeks. 

Highs

Ava had her birthday party Saturday, and it was a success! The guest of honor decided to not try and die again, and grace us with her presence.

The photobooth was a big hit. Everyone seemed to love it, and when I browse thru FB, I see a ton of my friends have their photobooth pic as their profile pic. Score!

Had a great time on Friday with Julie from It's Sew Stinkin Cute. She took Friday off of work to help me make all of the food. Everyone seemed to like the food at the party. We had some leftovers, but not a ton, which is awesome. Nothing worse than running out of food, or having leftover to eat for days on end.

• The Kettlebell fitness challenge started today! Goodbye to feeling frumpy and fluffy and sucky "before" pics. It probably doesn't help that hubby went and got donuts and Coke this morning, eek.

• My father in law was in town for the weekend, which means good food and good conversations. 

• Had a date night with hubby on Wednesday night. Our friends gave us tickets to go see Warrior (totally up hubby's alley since it's an MMA movie). My mom watched the girls, so yay for free babysitting. We went to Jason's Deli and I had the seafood gumbo. YUM. 

• I've been wanting a new pair of boots for a while. Found a pair of Doc Martens that I really love, found them on sale, plus free shipping. Then found a 20% off coupon for Labor Day weekend. Used the money I made from the ads on my blog to pay for them, so basically free. LOVE it! 

• I won the big $200 anniversary blog giveaway over at Bella Before and After! Which couldn't have come at a better time, with all the stress of Ava's party and her 7th surgery. I got a stencil from Cutting Edge that I've been eyeing for FOREVER, two necklaces from my girl Lesley at Fabulously Flawed, and a couple of other things. The stencil got here on Saturday, I love it! Can't wait to get started on my bedroom! 

So there you have it, my highs and lows for September. It's lovely outside, the windows are open, and it's not 100 degrees like it has been for the past billion days. I'm in a great mood, the weekend was so fabulous that my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. I love that little girl of mine, I'm so thankful for her.